This story is so dark, I can't even see the chapter title
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This story is so dark, I can't even see the chapter title
Princess Luna stood on the balcony of her room in the Canterlot castle, sweeping her eyes over the land of Equestria. She gave a quiet sigh as she focused her thoughts on raising tonight's moon--A new moon, she reminded herself numbly. Celestia had informed her that tonight was the beginning of a new lunar cycle. As if I, the goddess of the moon, didn't even know the current position in the cycle, she thought bitterly. What was the point of raising the moon if nopony would even be able to see it, anyway? Celestia had also told her to keep the sky clear of stars for the night, which basically ensured that the moon would be completely shrouded in darkness. Oh well... at least it makes my job easier.
"Okay, just a little more to the left. No, too far!" Twilight shrieked. Spike rolled his eyes as he inched the bookcase to the right, paying close attention to the alicorn as he waited for the signal to stop. "There! Perfect." Twilight sighed and sat down in the middle of the library, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a hoof. "Wow, redecorating sure is tiring..."
"Yeah, I can imagine," Spike grumbled. Why couldn't she have just used her magic? Twilight's voice from earlier rang in his head: I need to focus on where everything should be, and having to move things myself will be distracting. Whatever that meant. To Spike, it just sounded like she was being lazy. The dragon looked out the window; it was nearly bedtime, he guessed. Twilight wore a satisfied expression as he walked towards her.
"Great work today, Spike. We should be getting to bed now, it's going to be a busy day--" Twilight's voice died out as the room suddenly went pitch-black. "--tomorrow," she finished. After a moment's pause, she called out in an unamused voice, "You know, you could at least wait for me to get upstairs before turning off all the lights."
"I didn't," came a reply from right beside her. Twilight yelped in surprise and jumped back, tripping over her own hooves and sprawling out on the floor. She felt a sudden pressure on her side as Spike latched onto her. "Twilight, what happened? I can't see a thing!"
"Calm down, Spike, it's probably just a power outage." Twilight lit up her horn, casting a pool of light around the two, and stood up. "C'mon, let's get to bed. We can worry about it in the morning." The two friends crept upstairs and relaxed in their respective beds, and Twilight dimmed the light from her horn down. The alicorn turned to look out the window; there were no lights on anywhere in Ponyville, as far as she could tell. Was the entire town powerless? "Oh, I hope everypony is okay," she whispered.
Meanwhile, at Fluttershy's cottage, the shy yellow pony was just fixing up a quick bedtime snack for Angel when the lights began flickering, and went out. She let out a frightened squeal and curled up on the kitchen floor, and before long there were countless bundles of fur brushing gently against her coat. "Oh, thank you all for being here," she whimpered. The pegasus gathered up the small animals in her wings and deposited them on her back as she blindly felt her way into the living room and settled down on the couch. "I hope the power comes back on soon..."
Applejack, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith sat in stunned silence in the living room at Sweet Apple Acres. After a few moments, Granny Smith's scolding voice cut through the darkness: "Ah told y'all the aliens were comin'! Ah told ye, but didja listen? Noooo!"
Mr. and Mrs. Cake were scrambling clumsily around the darkened kitchen at Sugarcube Corner with flashlights, trying to find a way to preserve the many perishable items they kept in storage. Just as their quest seemed hopeless, a glowing pink pony bounced into the room, humming to herself. The two bakers stared, dumbfounded, until she noticed their presence. "Oh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie Pie chirped, waving at them.
The Cakes exchanged glances, and Mrs. Cake finally spoke up. "Dearie, how are you glowing like that?"
"Oh, I turned on my Flour-escent Mode! I also come in blue, red, green, purple..." Her coat quickly switched colors to match each one she mentioned. "...black, white, A-mare-ican, Germane--"
"Okay, Pinkie, we get it," Mr. Cake interrupted. Pinkie Pie smiled, changing back to her glowing pink form, and the stallion continued. "But we have no way to save all these food items! They'll spoil if we don't get power back soon!"
"Oh, don't worry about that!" Pinkie reached behind her back and pulled out a large refrigerator, setting it down gently in front of the baffled ponies. "Just put everything in here, and it'll stay colder than the ice at Winter Wrap-Up!" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Although, the ice at Winter Wrap-Up is usually starting to melt, because it's springtime, so I guess that ice isn't very cold at all! So this is even colder than the stuff that's colder than the ice at Winter Wrap-Up!" She stomped her hoof on the ground triumphantly.
"Sweetie, we don't have any power," Mrs. Cake reminded her dully.
"Oh, that's no problem!" Pinkie tapped her hoof on the front panel of the fridge, causing ice to spill out of the ice dispenser and onto the floor. "It runs on Pinkie Pie Party Power!" She exclaimed.
Looking from Pinkie, to the fridge, and back to each other, they silently agreed to discard their questions; their experience with Pinkie's antics had taught them that some things are better left to the imagination. The three bakers worked together to fill the appliance with every necessary item in the building, and were surprised when plenty of extra space remained in the fridge after they finished. Pinkie promptly leapt inside and closed the door behind her, telling the couple that "it was really hot out there!" The Cakes soon dragged themselves upstairs to bed, one thought running through both their minds: That mare is nuts.
Rarity had spent the last two hours finishing up the prototype for her newest dress design. "Just a few more stitches," she mumbled, eyes locked intently on the needle of the sewing machine. Just as she was about to put in the last stitch... the machine stopped. "What the--" The machine was closely followed by the lights, leaving the room in utter darkness. "No..." the unicorn whispered. "No, no, NOOOOOOO!" Rarity held a forehoof to her head, summoning her fainting sofa with her magic, and fell backwards dramatically... onto the hard floor. "Ouch!" Rarity sat up, rubbing her head, and carefully stalked around the room in search of the traitorous couch. "Where is that darned thing..."
Oh, and Rainbow Dash slept on peacefully, the fluffy cloud pillow over her head muffling the terrified cries of her fellow citizens.
Twilight awoke to the faint sting of light on her eyelids and turned her head to see the early morning sun rising slowly above the horizon. She rolled out of bed, stretched her legs and wings, and plodded downstairs, where Spike was already waiting with a bowl of cereal and a glass of water for her breakfast.
"Thank you, Spike." She gave the dragon a small smile and carried the meal with her magic to the kitchen table. "I wonder what caused the blackout last night. Have we gotten power back yet?"
"Nope," Spike replied, shaking his head.
"Hmm, strange..." Twilight cut off her train of thought to take a few bites of her cereal. "Well, maybe I'll go check it out after breakfast."
"Um..." Spike wasn't aware of the alicorn having any electrical knowledge, but with all the books she read, it was very possible she had at least picked up something on the subject. "Okay, have fun, I guess," he muttered, walking back upstairs. Twilight waved to him while munching on her food. A few large mouthfuls later, she stood up and trotted out the door, wiping the crumbs from her face.
As she walked through town, she noticed a few ponies milling around in confusion, but the area was otherwise silent. Twilight went past them, leaving Ponyville and scanning the fields surrounding the small town carefully. The alicorn flapped her wings and hovered a short distance from the ground, turning in slow circles until something in the distance finally caught her attention. As she glided closer, she recognized the object to be another pony. She settled on the ground nearby and folded her wings to her sides, and when she approached the other pony, loud snoring met her ears. Twilight identified the mystery mare as Derpy Hooves, who appeared to be singed all over, her frazzled mane sticking straight up in scattered patches. A few feet away from the pegasus were the remains of a very thick electrical cord that had been uprooted, severed in half and riddled with bite marks.
Oh, don't tell me that's Ponyville's main line... Twilight facehooved and prodded the grey mare awake. "Derpy, wake up."
"Wuh?" Derpy blinked her eyes open and sat up, looking around dazedly.
"Are you alright?" Twilight asked. Derpy stared at her--at least, Twilight thought she was looking at her--seemingly lost in thought.
Late in the evening, Derpy was digging, searching for Pinkie Pie's top-secret underground muffin factory, when her hoof struck a hard, ropelike object. She stared down at it for a moment, trying to identify it, then cleared the dirt from around it and tugged it up above ground level. Her eyes lit up as she recognized the strange discovery.
Now, few ponies knew that, along with muffins, licorice was one of the grey pegasus' favorite treats. So when she came across this thick, black, suspiciously-candylike braid of 'licorice' mysteriously buried in the outskirts of town, it was only logical for her to eat it.
Twilight's eyes flicked back and forth between the charred pegasus and the shredded power line. "Derpy, what did you do?"
*zap*
Derpy cocked her head, her ears flattening out as a sheepish grin spread across her face. "Um... my bad?"
